Firebird Festival lights up Phoenixville

This weekend, there is a pair of attractive holiday events in the Phoenixville area: the “Firebird Festival” in Phoenixville and “Holiday Splendor” in Chester Springs.

The Winter Solstice is fast approaching and that means that it is once again time for Phoenixville’s annual Firebird Festival. Phoenixville will celebrate the arrival of the solstice with a special event Saturday with festivities slated to get underway at 4 p.m. on Bridge Street.

The celebration will focus on the burning of a Firebird (in this case, a wooden bird and not a high-powered sports car). Also known as the Phoenix, the Firebird is a centuries-old symbol of rebirth and regeneration. The highlight of the event is the lighting of the Firebird at 8 p.m.

On Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., the Mill at Anselma will present “Holiday Splendor.” The Mill, which has been decorated for the holidays, will feature an old-fashioned winter extravaganza, including craft-making and letter-writing to Santa (who will be waiting in the site’s 1930s-era post office to take kids’ letters back to the North Pole with him).

As an added attraction, the Mill at Anselma, which was built in the 1740s, will present a special flour milling demonstration in its historic grist mill. Additionally, the site’s newly-expanded holiday gift shop will be open throughout the event.

The Mill at Anselma also has another holiday event on its schedule. Candlelight tours will be featured on December 14 from 5-7 p.m. Flour milling demonstrations in the grist mill will also be featured this evening.

For more information on the events at Anselma, call 610-827-1906 or go to www.anselmamill.org.